Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Today The Conference Board of Canada released their Help Wanted Index for the month of March and it offers very promising news. It saw a jump from 10.4 per cent to 125.3 — its highest level since the group began collecting data in 2005.

The Help Wanted Index has been climbing for the past year but this jump was a clear indicator that the Canadian job market is improving.

As the site describes it; "The Conference Board of Canada’s Help-Wanted Index is an indicator of the number of new jobs advertised online. Our empirical analysis has shown that variations in the number of jobs posted online are generally followed by similar variations in employment in the ensuing months. Thus, the index can be used to predict near-term employment trends."

Friday, April 15, 2011

How many times have you asked yourself what makes a business succeed? Is it a great product, flashy sales or the best website? Well, a recent study by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business set out to answer that question and came up with some interesting points.

The study polled 8,901 of CFIB's members to see what qualities they found to be the most important. Here's the rankings of the national study;

1) Employees2) Customer Loyalty3) Hard Work4) A Good Product or Service5) Passion for Work6) Innovation7) Family Support8) Defined Business Plans

This is an interesting study both for employers and employees because it clearly ranks Employees as more important to a business' success than the product or service it offers!

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

As we reported on Friday, the Labour Survey released by StatsCan on April 8 was immediately embraced by the media so they could cry afoul about all of the jobs lost. The news was actually pretty good when you read the survey but of course many in the media treated it as little more than a headline so they did not go into that detail.

On April 11 the National Post published this article pointed to the positive in the report and the article is compelling. It points to the drop in Canada's unemployment rate as well as the increase in wages, the huge gain in hours worked and the fact that March's addition of 90,600 jobs was the best showing in 18 months!

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Friday, April 8, 2011

As with every first Friday of the month, StatsCan released their Labour Force Survey today. As the headlines across Canada's news outlets scream about the net loss of jobs, they fail to recognize the good news in today's survey - and almost altogether ignore that the good news outweighs the bad.

Granted Canada did not add as many jobs as experts anticipated. We did however add a substantial 91,000 new full time jobs but this number is almost exactly offset by the 92,000 part time job losses. Factoring in some common sense, this means Canadians who were making it by on less than 30 hours a week are now working full time jobs. The study assures us that Canadians are working more hours and isn't this the goal in the first place?

Overall employment was unchanged in March, as gains in full-time work were offset by declines in part time. The unemployment rate edged down 0.1 percentage points to 7.7%. Over the past 12 months, employment has risen by 1.8% (+305,000).

Full-time employment rose by 91,000 in March, and was offset by a decline of 92,000 in part time. This large full-time increase brought gains in full-time employment to 251,000 (+1.8%) over the past 12 months, while part time increased by 54,000 (+1.7%).

There were employment gains in accommodation and food services as well as construction in March, and losses in health care and social assistance and in public administration.

The number of public sector employees fell in March. Compared with 12 months earlier, public sector growth (+2.4%) was slightly faster than that of private sector employees (+2.1%), while self-employment was unchanged.

In March, employment declined in Quebec and increased in Prince Edward Island. There were no notable changes in overall employment in the other provinces.

Note to readers

Labour Force Survey (LFS) estimates are based on a sample, and are therefore subject to sampling variability. Estimates for smaller geographic areas or industries will have more variability. For an explanation of sampling variability of estimates, and how to use standard errors to assess this variability, consult the "Data quality" section of the publication Labour Force Information (71-001-X, free).

Employment increased for men aged 25 and over, while it declined among youths aged 15 to 24 and women 55 and over.

Gains in accommodation and food services as well as construction

The number of workers in accommodation and food services increased by 36,000 in March. This gain brought employment in this industry to roughly the same level as 12 months earlier.

Employment in construction rose by 24,000 in March, continuing an upward trend that began in July 2009. Over the past 12 months, employment in this industry has increased by 5.3% (+64,000), one of the highest rates of growth among all industries.

There were small losses in health care and social assistance (-17,000) and in public administration (-13,000). Over the past 12 months, employment in these industries increased by 2.9% and 2.1% respectively.

Little employment change across provinces

Employment in Quebec edged down 15,000 in March, and the unemployment rate held steady at 7.7%. Over the past 12 months, employment growth in the province was 1.6% (+62,000).

In March, employment in Prince Edward Island increased by 1,400 and the unemployment rate was 11.2%. This increase brought employment just above levels of one year earlier.

In Ontario, total employment was little changed, as full-time gains of 63,000 were offset by part-time losses of 58,000. The unemployment rate was 8.1%. Over the past 12 months, employment grew by 2.1% in this province.

While there was little change in employment in British Columbia, the unemployment rate fell from 8.8% to 8.1% as fewer people looked for work.

Gains among adult men offset by losses among youths, women 55 and over

Employment for men aged 25 and over was up 32,000 in March, with increases in full time. The gains were shared between men 25 to 54 and 55 and over. Employment growth over the past 12 months among core-age men was 2.1%, while that of men 55 and over was 4.9%.

Employment in March was unchanged for core-age women and fell by 17,000 for women aged 55 and over. Compared with 12 months earlier, employment was unchanged for core-age women, while it increased by 6.6% for women 55 and over.

The number of employed 15- to 24- year-olds fell by 17,000 in March, with notable losses in part-time work. The unemployment rate was little changed at 14.4%. Compared with 12 months earlier, youth employment increased by 0.5%.

Quarterly update for the territories

The Labour Force Survey also collects labour market data about the territories. These data are produced monthly in the form of three-month moving averages. The territorial estimates presented in this release are not seasonally adjusted; therefore, comparisons are made on a year-over-year basis.

All three territories saw employment gains in the first quarter of 2011 compared with the same quarter of 2010.

In Yukon, employment increased by 2,500 in the three months ending in March 2011 compared with the same period in 2010. In the first quarter of 2011, the unemployment rate was 5.1%.

Employment in the Northwest Territories rose by 1,700 from the first quarter of 2010 to the same period in 2011, pushing the unemployment rate down to 6.3%.

In Nunavut, employment increased by 500 in the first quarter of 2011 compared with the first quarter of 2010. However, the number of people searching for work also increased, bringing the unemployment rate up to 17.3%.

A more detailed summary, Labour Force Information (71-001-X, free), is now available online for the week ending March 19. From the Key resource module of our website under Publications, choose All subjects, then Labour. LAN and bulk prices are available on request. The DVD-ROM Labour Force Historical Review, 2010 (71F0004X, $209), will be available on April 11. See How to order products.

Data tables are also now available online. From the Subject module of our website, choose Labour.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

As we've mentioned previously, the construction sector is a sure sign of economic growth and we're proud to be working on new construction projects. Our client is looking for a Senior Estimator. Based in Ontario, this is great opportunity for a future-oriented estimator to find a company with whom they can make a mark.

Monday, April 4, 2011

This Friday, Statistics Canada will release the Employment Report for the month of March and Canada is waiting for it with optimism. February's report, while showing growth wasn't as strong as some hoped, but March should bring us back to the strong growth we've seen over the past 12 months.

Reuters has released their forecast for the report, indicating they see Canada creating 26,000 new jobs in March and possibly lowering the unemployment rate to 7.7%.

They go on to say that Canada has created an average of roughly 40,000 new jobs every month for the past 5 months.

They also note the impact this report will have on the federal election, considering the importance of unemployment to any political platform.

Trend: The report will show whether job growth remainedlackluster for the second straight month or if there has been areturn to the more frenetic hiring pace of December andJanuary. The Canadian economy has created an average of 40,000jobs per month for the past five months. But February's tepidgain disappointed after two strong months, so markets will bewatching to see if the lull was temporary.

During the economic recovery Canada has generally regainedlost jobs faster than the United States, but that trend may bereversing as the neighboring economy outperformed Canada inFebruary and posted a second straight month of solid gains inMarch. [ID:nNOAT00477]

Growth: Economic growth picked up speed in the fourthquarter of last year and early data show that momentum spillingover into the first quarter of 2011, which should foster jobgrowth. [ID:nN31223177]

Political fallout: Unemployment is a big theme in thefederal election campaign now in full swing ahead of a May 2vote, especially in the hard-hit manufacturing belt in southernOntario, where the jobless rate was above the national averagein February at 8.0 percent.

In a separate business census of non-farm payrollemployees, Statscan estimated a 4.2 percent advance in weeklyearnings in January from a year earlier.

MARKET IMPACT

The employment report is the last data point available tothe Bank of Canada ahead of its April 12 interest rateannouncement. While market players have effectively ruled outthe chances of a rate hike this month, strong job numbers couldconvince investors to pull forward their forecasts on thetiming of the next rate hike.

The Canadian dollar would likely get a boost from an upbeatreport, or slip from recent highs if the numbers disappoint.

Canada's primary securities dealers, surveyed March 18,were largely split between May 31 and July 19 as the date ofthe central bank's next move, with one of the 11 betting onApril 12. [CA/POLL]